Doppelganger
Part III: What? What?

by Krystiana
krissy@zahadum.com

Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't sue. I mean no harm by playing around in JKR's universe. If you haven't read the HP books, why the hell are you reading this?

Archive: My site (), FanFiction.net, Noire Sensus (if they should get a hold of this), Schnoogle (eventually). All else, ask first, and ye shall probably recieve. ^_^

Thank you, my beta, Emma Grant! She rocks! Whee! *give Emma a Draco plushie*

Part III. Have fun. Comments are always appreciated. Yay!

"What I don't understand is how Harry slipped out of the common room without us noticing. I didn't hear the painting open or close," Hermione was saying, as Ron and Hermione both stepped out of the fat lady's portrait hole. "And he left his invisibility clock behind. It's as if he just disappeared."

Ron shrugged. "Maybe he just wanted to be alone. He's been doing that a lot this year." A grim silence fell between them as they began walking down the hall. Harry's grief over Sirius's death had eased since the end of their fifth year, but he still took time to himself to think and reflect.

"That's fine, but he should at least tell us before he leaves!" Hermione ranted.

"Where do you think he went?"

"I don't know." Hermione stopped walking when they came to an intersection in the hallway. "This is pointless. This castle is too huge to be looking for Harry. We should have brought the Marauder's Map. We should go back and get it."

Ron stopped walking as well, but not because he wanted to give up so quickly. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"I hear voices. One of them sounds like Harry."

Hermione strained her ears, as well. "This way!" she turned the corner they were standing by, picking up her pace as she went.

"That other voice sounds familiar, too - OW!" Ron cursed as he ran into Hermione, who had abruptly stopped walking again. "Warn me before you do that, 'Mione!"

Hermione didn't say anything, but merely pointed ahead of her to the library. The door was open, and they could see two figures enveloped in a tight embrace.

"Who's that?" Ron whispered. He squinted, as if trying to see the two people better. He could see a boy with extremely messy brown hair, but could not see the other person. "Is that… Harry?"

"Yes… but I can't tell who he's with."

"He's… Harry's snogging someone!" Ron exclaimed as he saw Harry's hand reach up to run his fingers through the other person's hair. "Way to go, Harry!"

Hermione elbowed him to keep him quiet. "Let's go, Ron."

"What?! Why? I want to see who Harry's snogging!" Ron stared at Hermione as if she had a toad growing out of her head.

"It's none of our business, Ron. Harry will tell us when he's ready." She put her hand firmly on Ron's arm and began pulling him away from the scene.

"But… but…"

"But that won't stop us from questioning him relentlessly when he gets back." Ron glanced at Hermione, then flashed her a grin.

* * *

Both boys merely stared at each other for a few seconds before reacting.

Their reaction was exactly the same. Sounds of disgust tore from their throats, and they jumped apart, wiping their mouths.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Potter?" Draco demanded, actually going as far as to spit, as if remove all traces of Harry from him.

"Me? What do you think you're doing? You were the one who was kissing ME, Malfoy!"

"Like I'd want to kiss your ugly face, Potter!" Draco sneered at Harry, dragging his hand across his mouth one more time. "What spell did you screw up to make this happen?"

"It's not my fault!" Harry shouted.

A sudden scratching made them both look towards the door. Mrs. Norris appeared, her eyes glowing brightly. Harry swore he could see a grin spread across the cat's face.

Neither boy knew if it was past curfew or not, but Filch would surely find a reason to get them in trouble if they hadn't. When Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter were in the same place at the same time, it usually meant trouble. Both of them took off running in opposite directions, leaving Mrs. Norris unsure of which way to go.

* * *

Draco's eyes shot open, abuptly pushing a startled Harry away from him.

"Draco?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"I just... felt something," Draco said, his eyes narrowing so much they were almost closed. "Something cold."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'something cold?'"

Draco turned around, eyes sweeping over the library. "I mean that something cold just went through me."

"Like a cold breeze or something?"

"No!" Draco said, turning back towards Harry. "Breezes can't go THROUGH people. Didn't you feel it?" Harry shook his head, and Draco looked around the library once more before gathering up his books. "Let's just go, Harry." He began walking towards the door without waiting for Harry.

Harry blinked, then rushed to pick up his own books and to catch up with Draco. "What's wrong?"

Clenching his teeth, Draco glanced at his lover. "I don't know, Harry."

* * *

Harry walked back into the fat lady's portrait-hole, rubbing his temples. He started to head upstairs to bed, when he heard a very soft, but very demanding "Ahem."

He looked over towards the sofa, where Ron and Hermione were sitting with expressions he couldn't read. A wave of guilt rushed over Harry. He wasn't sure how he'd left in the first place, but he had been gone quite a long time, he imagined.

"Harry, come sit." Hermione patted the sofa cushion next to hers. Beside her, Ron was smirking, and Harry suddenly felt quite uneasy about the situation. He took his time walking over to the two of them, and he did not sit next to them when he reached them, instead settling in one of the chairs next to the sofa.

"Why do I have the feeling I'm about to get questioned?"

"Because you are!" Ron exclaimed, jumping out of his seat. "Who are you snogging, Harry?"

Harry's eyes widened to saucers, his mouth falling open. "What?!" he said, his voice oddly squeaky.

"Don't play dumb with us, Harry," Hermione said. "We saw you kissing somebody. We didn't want to interrupt you, and I think you should repay us for that by telling us who it was."

"Repay you?" Harry squeaked again, sinking into his chair.

"You were gone a long time, Harry. How far did you two go?" Ron demanded, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he sat back down.

"I…"

"You can trust us, Harry. We're you're best friends." Hermione's expression was serious, but a small smile played at her lips.

By now, Harry was extremely pale. He swallowed a few times, and then looked Hermione in the eyes. "I don't think I can tell you."

"What?" Ron shouted, leaping off the sofa once more. "Of course you can tell us!"

Harry was shaking his head, standing up from his chair. "I can't. I'm sorry, Ron." He began walking towards the stairs to the boys' dormitory. Ron moved to follow him, but Hermione grabbed onto his arm and shook her head.

"Harry?" she called after him. He stopped, but did not turn around. "Will you tell us eventually?"

"Maybe."

* * *

Harry attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"Aww… is poor Harry tired?"

Harry tried to glare at Draco, but was interrupted by a jaw-splitting yawn. The blonde laughed as he turned back to the mirror and continued combing through his wet hair.

"Jerk," Harry muttered. "Move over. I need to brush my teeth."

"No."

"What do you mean, 'no?'" Harry demanded. "You've been combing your hair for ten minutes!"

"And I intend to comb for twenty. Wait your turn."

Harry growled and grumbled at Draco, but waited. Although he wouldn't admit it, he rather liked watching Draco groom himself.

"Why are you so grumpy this morning?" Draco asked, looking at Harry's scowling face in the reflection of the mirror.

Harry sighed. "Didn't sleep well," he said softly. "Too distracted by the… weird thing."

Draco nodded. "It is a bit disturbing. I hardly slept at all, either."

"I have a very bad feeling about this, Draco."

The blond immediately put his comb down and turned to Harry, concern evident in his features. "Harry, the last time you said that…"

"Was right before Voldemort took me. I know."

"You nearly died."

"And Voldemort did die," Harry said, reaching out for Draco's hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "But… I just have this feeling…"

"What? What do you feel?"

"Even though I know he's very, very dead, I think Voldemort has something to do with this."

"What?" Draco exclaimed, his eyes widening. "How is that possible? Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"But… he's dead. Even Dumbledore said he was dead," Draco said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"He is dead, Draco," Harry said. "But that doesn't mean he can't have anything to do with what's going on."

Draco searched Harry's face for a moment, then turned back to the mirror. When he saw the reflection, he froze. "Harry…"

"What?" Harry was staring at the ground, deep in thought.

"Look." Draco pointed at the mirror.

There was no Draco in the reflection - only Harry, and it was a Harry who was wearing a Gryffindor uniform instead of a Slytherin. The Gryffindor Harry stared at the two of them with his mouth open in… shock?

Harry's lips twisted into a snarl, and he leapt past Draco at the mirror, hitting his hands on the wall on each side. "Who ARE you?" he demanded.

The image faded, leaving only Harry's angry face and Draco's slightly confused one.

* * *

Dropping his toothbrush, Harry jumped back from the mirror when he saw his other self come charging at him from the other side. Reeling back with a sharp gasp, his back hit the wall and he shot out of the bathroom. He ran into his dorm, his face pale. His roommates were getting dressed and looked up as he entered.

"Harry? You all right?" Seamus asked. "You look like I did the first time I saw a banshee."

Harry stared at his roommates, then left, ignoring Ron's call that came after him. It was impossible to find a place to be alone in Gryffindor tower. He leaned against the wall in the staircase down to the common room.

That… Slytherin version of himself had said that Voldemort was gone for good. Were these visions a sight of another world, or what could have been?

Harry slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. His 'other' self had already fulfilled the prophecy. Voldemort was dead in their world.

And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal…

Tom Riddle, the boy who became Voldemort had been a half-blood, just like Harry. Riddle also had a horrible childhood, just like Harry. But Riddle had been in Slytherin, and Harry was in Gryffindor…

Slytherin will lead you to greatness…

Harry moaned and put his head in his hands. ~Did I screw up the prophecy six years ago when I got sorted?~ he thought. ~The Sorting Hat was adamant about putting me in Slytherin, but I argued. Dumbledore said my arguing, my choice, was a good thing…~

Of course, Dumbledore had proved last year that he made mistakes, just like everybody else. Perhaps Dumbledore was wrong. Harry should have been in Slytherin, been Tom Riddle's equal. Even if Harry had been in Slytherin, he was sure he wouldn't have lost sight of the fact that Voldemort was evil. If he had been in Slytherin, perhaps Voldemort would already be dead…

* * *

A skeletal hand reached out to touch the mirror.

"All the pieces are in place."

The hand traced down the engravings on the frame.

"Soon, Harry Potter will either stand by my side, or he will destroy himself."

The being attached to the hand stepped closer to the mirror, yet no reflection was cast.

"Wormtail, send Bellatrix to me. I wish to reward her for finding this most valuable item."

A skinny, balding, cowering man bent down at the being's feet.

"Yes, my Lord Master Voldemort."

To be continued…

Review Responses:

MedNar - You've got it, mostly. One thing you said is wrong - you'll find out exactly what that is later. ^_^ The definition of Doppelganger that I read is "a ghostly double or counterpart of a living person." Me likey. ^_^

DeathStryke - They... did realize they were kissing, but they didn't know WHO they were kissing. As my beta said, it's a guy thing. "Getting transported from one place to another, finding themselves kissing somebody passionately, and they both react hormonally." (Or she said something to that effect... can't remember exactly.)

Dea Draconis - You like exactly what I like. Slytherin!Harry with slash. Yum. ^_^ Don't worry, I'll definitely be continuing the story. I'm too excited about it to stop now. WHEE.

MissAssassin - Well, I'm part German, but I don't speak German. It sounds strange, but certain words were passed down in my family, and we used random German words here and there. "Doppelganger" is not one of them, but it's a word that's stuck with me.

Thanks to all who reviewed!!!

I plan on releasing a chapter every two weeks or so, although everything depends on how life goes for both me and my beta. I'll perfectly patient with my beta... she's doing a kicky-booty job, so it doesn't really matter to me how long she takes!